1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical viewing device which creates an illusory image from a generally planar light source such as a cathode ray tube. More particularly, it relates to such a device which creates such illusions through prefiltered separation and selective reflection of light.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Video games commonly utilize light filters and mirrors to enhance the image perceived by the player. Mirrors, for example, are used to combine a video image with a three dimensional model or other stationary graphics. Such uses appear in the games "Space Invaders", manufactured by Midway Manufacturing, a division of Bally Electronics, Inc., and "Asteroids Deluxe", produced by Atari, Warner Communications, Inc.
Filters are often used to add color to black and white monitors. Examples include the game "Battlezone", produced by Atari, and "Starcastles", produced by Cinnetronics. None of these prior arrangements utilize separation of the light source into separate fields by prefiltering and independent direction of those fields by selective reflection.
Three dimensional images have been created in the past, for example, in "3-D" movies, through the use of selective filters incorporated in glasses worn by the viewer. Encoded signals are emitted from the light sources (projector) which are filtered by the lenses to allow one signal to be perceived by each eye of the viewer. The separate inputs so received are then combined by the brain to create a three dimensional illusion. This arrangement does not, however, actually provide separated fields which may be then separately directed for viewing by a viewer using both eyes.